


Unsteady

by Lacklusterswirl



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Family Reunion, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Mission Gone Wrong, Oneshot, Sibling Love, injuries, lots of flashbacks, pre Rainbow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 07:16:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17997338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacklusterswirl/pseuds/Lacklusterswirl
Summary: Based off of the song Unsteady by X Ambassadors.A quick oneshot based on what I think happened between Bandit and his brother. It goes between present time and flashbacks of their time together.





	Unsteady

“Hold onto me. I’m a little unsteady…”

Cedrick nodded and immediately lifted his arms up for Dominic to hold onto while he balanced on the wall. Unlike him, Dominic kept looking down at the ground, worried about falling, whereas Cedrick could always trust his own feet. It didn’t help that mama was just telling them stories about other little boys who dared to climb too high. Dominic always trusted too easily.

“I’ve got you. Don’t worry.” He smiled at his twin.

.

“Mama.”

No one could deny the relief in his voice. Warm arms, the content hum, a familiar scent of roses. It felt like a siren, singing his heart right out of his chest.

“Dominic! I’m so happy you could come home!”

Christmas. Berlin. _Home_. How strange. Just seventy-two hours ago, he was shooting terrorists in Madagascar. It’s strange how the human brain can still remember all the small details. Don’t hold the closet door above the chip in the paint unless you want a palmful of splinters. There was just this one tile by the living room that was slightly raised, so you had to watch your feet or else get a stubbed toe.

“Is papa here?” Bandit asked. They didn’t often get along. However, he knew that his son was doing something good. Even if he would never admit it.

Human brains weren’t perfect though. Because even though the thermostat stayed the same, it felt colder when he saw his father. Still standing proud, despite the cane he was leaning on, and despite the white hair. And just like before, home became house.

“I love you,” his mother murmured, unaware of the change that made Bandit stiffen.

_Don’t let go then._

.

“Dom!” Cedrick was pulling him to his feet. “The police are here. If we get caught, father will punish us.” Because Dominic got invited to a little gathering while still being underage. And being the troublemaker he turned out to be, he begged Cedrick to come along. Dom wanted him to tag along to get Cedrick out a little more, but he knew his brother was only here to keep an eye on him. Turns out he needed it too…

Dominic grumbled, unable to see straight. The party had gone too well.

“I… I can’t walk, Cedrick. Help. Please.”

Warm, yet panicked arms wrapped around him and pulled him up.

“Hold on to me. Come on now,” the soft coaxing voice was nothing like the sharp tone Cedrick used when teasing him in front of that one classmate Dom liked.

“I… I’m a little unsteady.”

A quiet chuckle, and the arms helped sling him over Cedrick’s shoulder. “You’re drunk. That’s what you are, but I got you. Now quiet, so I can sneak out the back.”

Cedrick was always too soft-hearted.

.

Bandit spoke first when the hug ended. “Who else is here, mama?”

“Everyone. You’re the last to get here. Why don’t you go put your stuff away in your room, and come join us when you’re ready?”

“Ok… Sure…” Bandit walked up the stairs just to see the light on in his old bedroom. Right. He would be using the guest room tonight.

“Papa?” a small voice asked. A young child, with round eyes shining in the dim light, and chocolate in their hands, reached up for Bandit’s hand. “When did you change? And what’s in the case?”

“Anna!” The all too familiar voice called from somewhere. If it hadn’t been for his sudden panic, he would’ve laughed at the confusion on the little girl’s face.

Fight or flight. The shadow was getting closer. Bandit was known as one to fight, but now… he wanted to fly. Anywhere but here.

_I’m not ready._

.

“Hello, I’m Stefan. Stephan Fischer. Nice to meet you both.”

“I’m Cedrick Brunsmeier, and this is Dominic, my brother.”

“I can see,” the other recruit chuckled. “The resemblance is astounding.”

The three shared a quick laugh.

.

If Bandit could’ve changed one thing in his life, he would’ve punched Stefan in that snarky mouth when they first met. Cedrick used to tease Bandit about how easily he trusted, when in reality, Bandit only trusted his brother. Everyone else could go to hell.

So, when Cedrick turned to him after their first day together in training and said, “I like him,” Bandit agreed.

Cedrick was never wrong about people.

Until he was.

.

“Where’s Stefan?” The quiet hiss took Dom’s attention away from the angle he was holding.

“You sent the slowest one of us to get reinforcements, of course he’s going to take a while.”

“Dom… I’m sorry-” Cedrick started, only to get stopped.

Dominic covered his mouth. “Don’t. I would rather you be here than him. I’ll be fine.”

“But your bleeding-”

“Will eventually stop. We just need to hold on until then.”

“I can put up your CED’s… Fuck, I hate that name. Why couldn’t you just call them batteries?”

“Because I love you, clearly.”

“Stupid way of showing it,” came the reply as he scooted away with two batteries in tow. A moment later, a low hum started up, and Dominic could see some arcs of electricity coming off the barbed wire.

Stefan came back with reinforcements. Just not for them. “Fucking traitor,” Dominic muttered, keeping still in their new hideout.

“He’s… he…” Cedrick couldn’t believe it.

“Brunsmeier and Brunsmeier… The game’s over. Time to give up.” The asshole even dared walk down the street with the people they were supposed to arrest like he owned it.

“This way.” Cedrick pulled on Dominic’s arm. He was always better at coming up with escape routes. While Dominic was trying to calculate how many enemies he could kill before getting caught, Cedrick had found an underground tunnel, leading to an old, abandoned sewage system.

They ran through the tunnels, following the old directions engraved into the walls. The pieces of cloth wrapped around his arms were getting dirty around the edges, but they were doing their job. On top of them was Cedrick’s jacket, the yellow stripe a sure way of getting sought out, though it was much warmer than just the old hoodie Dom was wearing. When they exited again, they were in the warehouse where they started. Still fortified and stocked like it was during the stakeout.

“Get some ammo, and let’s move,” Cedrick was already gathering all their files up and stuffing them into the protective case they had originally been brought in.

Dominic quickly radioed in their situation, and what had happened. He was so distracted by the directions, he didn’t even see the person launching themselves at him. The only people who knew to avoid the electrified barbed wire by the entrance was Stefan and Cedrick. As Stefan’s knife inched closer to Dominic, another body flew out of nowhere and tackled the traitor back.

“Cedrick!” Two bodies were writhing in the razor wire, and the smell of burning flesh made him move forward. He unhooked the battery, tossing it aside to help his brother up.

Glazed eyes stared back, struggling to focus and then ultimately falling closed.

“Officer down!”

“ETA in a minute!”

“D-dom…” His mouth still worked though. Of course it did. He wouldn’t die without telling Dominic off one more time.

“Shh.”

“I… I can’t walk… hehe… for once, you look like the sober one.”

Dominic chuckled, carefully moving his brother to cover. By the time he looked up again, he saw that Stefan had disappeared somehow, only leaving behind a few scraps of his jacket and a couple blood trails.

“Hold onto me… Please,” Dom begged, squeezing his warm body for what felt like the last time.

“I’m… I’m a little unsteady… I don’t know-”

“I don’t care. Don’t let go.”

Cedrick returned the hug, only to pass out moments later.

Stefan was caught, passed out in the field just on the outskirts of the town. Cedrick was rushed to hospital where Dominic sat beside him until he got called into a meeting.

Then Bandit was sent out on an undercover mission.

.

“Hello,” the voice was strained. Not like how he remembered. He looked good – he looked _alive_.

Truth be told, he hadn’t even had the guts to tell Cedrick’s then fiancée, now wife, about the accident. He just disappeared, recruited by GSG 9 then sent away on a mission to finally take down the people Stefan worked for. Then he never came back. Because there was a difference between Dominic and Bandit. Dominic was raised with a doting mother and a loving brother that was ready to give up his own life for him.

Bandit was born out of hatred and a feeling of mistrust, raised to be hyperaware of his actions lest he get caught by the enemies he called friends.

“Dominic, why don’t we sit down and talk before we rejoin the others?” A hand was outstretched, ready to… Who knows? “Anna, please go find Mama downstairs.”

The child was still staring between the two in awe, clearly astonished that there was another man that looked so similar to her father.

“She’s adorable,” Bandit murmured, mimicking something IQ said when she saw pictures sent to him of his niece.

Eyebrows raised, “You wouldn’t say that if you actually got to know her. She takes after you much more than me. Causing trouble for everyone. Would make me doubt her heritage, if it hadn’t been for…” He cut himself off, and finally let his arm down.

They sat on their respective beds. Bandit noticed the freshly clean blue stripes immediately. That, and the beat-up teddy bear that sat on his bedside drawer, a mirror of the side opposite of him.

“Teddy and Tim are still here,” Cedrick joked. His brother was testing the waters. Even though he retired from service, he heard the stories. Bandit could see that these jokes were a way to judge how far gone Dominic was. “But now they’re joined by Princess Lily.” The little white bear with a pink dress was sitting beside Bandit.

“Cedrick-”

“You’ve never called me that before. Not unless you were scared.”

“Well, I haven’t seen you in years. I’m not going to start calling you ‘dick’ right away.”

“You know you didn’t have to go after them, right? I don’t need you to seek out revenge for me.”

There was a pause while Bandit debated between possible responses.

“You would’ve done the same.”

“But I would’ve probably done the same.”

They shared a smile.

“I don’t blame you for leaving, really,” Cedrick murmured, wringing his hands together. Bandit’s attention was on the red scar marks on his hands. He knew there were everywhere on his body – he saw it. And now it would never leave.

“I do.”

He snorted. “I kinda wish you were there for my wedding though. Or maybe with Anna when she was born.”

“Did you see her face?” Dominic smirked. “She called _me_ papa!”

The nervous lip-biting faded into a smile. “I always thought we looked so different. You’ve lost weight, and I saw the tattoo poking out of your collar. Dad would be so mad.”

“You’re right,” Bandit faked some disgust. “Look at that fat around your stomach. You’ve really let yourself go, huh?”

“Says the brother that was always heavier when we were younger.”

“Didn’t stop you from eating like a pig though. And look at how it’s coming to bite you in the ass now!”

“Fuck off, I’m still the more handsome one. You age like a soiled diaper.”

“Oh, and you’re the fine wine, monsieur?”

Cedrick took one of the decorative pillows and threw it at Bandit’s face. It was a challenge. One that Bandit would no doubt win, but a challenge nonetheless. They ended up in a strange position. With Bandit holding Cedrick in a headlock, and Cedrick crushing his brother in a bearhug.

“Shit, you really have gained weight.”

“Ahaha, and you’ve gotten older.”

“I need air, Dick.”

The arms released, and he let go of his brother’s neck as well. “Dom, I love you, but I’m so out of breath that I don’t think I can stand on my own.”

“It’s ok, me too. Just stay here for a bit longer.”

“You still have my old jacket.”

“Mhmm?”

Dom looked over at his brother’s flushed face. “Are you so broke that you can’t afford another?”

“You little shit-”

“Hey, I was always older.”

“Sorry. You _big_ shit.”

Their laughs died down to silence again. Then Cedrick spoke, bringing Bandit to the now. “We should swap clothes to see if people can recognize us. They’re probably all out of practice.”

“You’re on.”

The question of how long did Cedrick wait echoed in his head, but the hug they shared as they got up chased away any remaining doubts.

_If you love me, don’t let go._


End file.
